In-chain Games on Ethereum: Are They Still Relevant in 2023?

[Stelisto]

I'm working on an in-chain game on ethereum, but before I spend more time on it, I would like to get some feedback first, so the game is about creating a town in a country, mining resources, building an army, and invading other towns, creating town shares, collecting taxes, sell it on the marketplace vs ETH, and more.

as a game designer, I can build it myself and I have friends in case I need it backers, in exchange I get loyalty for me and my backers from the marketplace when users exchange resources.
The question I'm asking is, is it worth building?
Do you play a free game on ethereum by paying only transaction fees knowing that you can sell town shares when you reach a certain level?

[yazher]

The problem when you use Ethereum Network is the transaction fees because even though you have some nice game right there if the gas fees are always increasing you gonna lose more players and they will gonna leave your game just like what happened to the other games out there that failed to update their games to catch their player's suggestions. That's why until today, there was no blockchain game that can compete with some common games out there that are easy to play because most blockchain games don't have any idea to reduce the gas fees once they rise.

[jossiel]

Fees are high on the ETH network, if you can do it with other chain or you're able to support it as well with other alternative chains for the sake of cheaper fees then that's much better.

You know real gamers will come out and will appreciate a game like this as long as it's fun. Able to earn some shares or crypto from it is just not gonna work long term so, if the gameplay is fun at the same time there's a worth it reward for everybody, it's worth it for most.

But as I've said, real gamers will come to your game if the concept is amazing and the fees aren't bothering if there's a need to transact.

[cryptoaddictchie]

The question I'm asking is, is it worth building?
Do you play a free game on ethereum by paying only transaction fees knowing that you can sell town shares when you reach a certain level?

Yes. People loves a good gaming ecosystem, the only drawback youll face is the transaction fees. Why? Its getting heavier and saturated on the eth network. So if your game got boosted, theres a lot of possibility of increase in fees. You could definitely use other chains that has supported scalability for games. Even though there are lots of options, buildung a game to monetize it on chain are now dropping due to scandals of play to earn last bull run. Well at least make a game first that wull be useful and see how to scale it on money matters.

[abel1337]

One problem in ethereum network is the gas fee as other mentioned. You future gamers will suffer heavy gas fee prices and this can be the reason on why would they avoid in playing your game. I personally think that Crypto games still has a chance to shine next bull market but you as a developer should consider the problems that happened last bull market where people suffer from high gas prices, weak tokenomics, unsustainable way to make people way to stay in the game and yeah bad quality game that only attractive if the reward token value is high. You should choose gas friendly blockchains as I guess your game will use a lot of gas fees.

[bitkanu]

honestly I don't think they are relevant anymore, maybe majority of them even has switched blockchain.
moreover, these games are also revolving around NFT which right now has lost popularity, i'm sure so many of them has actually lost so much valuation, that I doubt there are consistent gamers in their game.

[Yogee]

[...]so the game is about creating a town in a country, mining resources, building an army, and invading other towns, creating town shares, collecting taxes, sell it on the marketplace vs ETH, and more.

I would be interested to play this. It will be a nice way to kill off time or something to enjoy before hitting bed after a whole day's work. Why did you choose building it on the blockchain is what I'm curious about. Are you also doing this as your side hustle? It's not really an issue but don't release a buggy game.

[mu_enrico]

The question I'm asking is, is it worth building?
Do you play a free game on ethereum by paying only transaction fees knowing that you can sell town shares when you reach a certain level?

If you build your games exclusively on the ETH chain, you'll leave a lot of potential players on the table since not all of them use ETH. I personally play several on-chain games from ETH, EOS, TRX, etc., and they have similar problems expanding their user base IMO.

If possible, try thinking about a chain-agnostic solution where users can play using their favorite coins. Moreover, ETH is not the fastest and cheapest chain even after PoS. You'll congest the network and the fees will be high.

[Stelisto]

Thank you for the feedback guys, keep it coming, please.

The reason I choose to build it on Ethereum is that I tried before with another game built on Polygon which is a well-known blockchain, but in reality, people don't really use it, and the hype is about promoting Polygon, not the projects built on it, and this is why the project died even before started.

Why do I choose to build it on blockchain in the first place?
The game challenge is time and time can be bought from the game, a pay-to-win concept that helps new users to keep up with the first comers, otherwise, it won't be fun to wait to get invaded every minute by users who started before you.

The good thing about these games is the time because in order to keep your town prospering all you need is a few minutes per day to collect resources and upgrade buildings or create new ones, so technically it's one transaction per day that handle all the updates for you. So you are playing by not wasting your time playing 

The fun part is when you start trading resources and shares in the marketplace, it's about predicting other users' productivity, promoting your own town, trading countries' bonds, and of course, getting your town up in the leaderboard.

The game works without the blockchain, but when the money is real, it makes it more fun because the steps you take are well calculated and the town gives you more status than holding a rare NFT or something similar in the crypto space.

I'm going to pitch it to my friends today, which me luck  

[Stelisto]

The question I'm asking is, is it worth building?
Do you play a free game on ethereum by paying only transaction fees knowing that you can sell town shares when you reach a certain level?

If you build your games exclusively on the ETH chain, you'll leave a lot of potential players on the table since not all of them use ETH. I personally play several on-chain games from ETH, EOS, TRX, etc., and they have similar problems expanding their user base IMO.

If possible, try thinking about a chain-agnostic solution where users can play using their favorite coins. Moreover, ETH is not the fastest and cheapest chain even after PoS. You'll congest the network and the fees will be high.

when you reach a certain level in the game, you will be able to unlock shares for other users to buy from you, the ETH you get from shares will help you pay the fees to level up more and unlock more shares, so the game is expensive only in the beginning, which is a requirement to show the buyers who paid for your shares that you are serious and won't stop playing after the first shares sold.

We can use the ETH fees as an advantage.

[Xal0lex]

Why not focus on other blockchains that are more user-friendly? There is no desire to pay those high fees on the ETH network. I'm not a programmer, but why not try Polygon, for example. Pretty common blockchain and the commissions are much lower there. For a game where there will be many small transactions, it's not the most suitable blockchain, I think, especially when there will be a hype around cryptocurrencies, as it was with the recent PEPE.

[livingfree]

Thank you for the feedback guys, keep it coming, please.

The reason I choose to build it on Ethereum is that I tried before with another game built on Polygon which is a well-known blockchain, but in reality, people don't really use it, and the hype is about promoting Polygon, not the projects built on it, and this is why the project died even before started.

You're right that there are more users with Ethereum but, you'll see that many wouldn't be willing to pay such high fees (gwei). However, you're the developer and you know better of what you're developing and what you believe on it.

Why do I choose to build it on blockchain in the first place?
The game challenge is time and time can be bought from the game, a pay-to-win concept that helps new users to keep up with the first comers, otherwise, it won't be fun to wait to get invaded every minute by users who started before you.

I get this concept since I am also a player. This is also like the Axie which is a pay to win game during the craze but the problem on that game was its model wasn't sustainable until we've seen their fall. With the concept that you're aware of and what you're developing, I wish you luck.

[Yogee]

[....]I'm not a programmer, but why not try Polygon, for example.

OP already tried Polygon as he mentioned in his previous comment.

The reason I choose to build it on Ethereum is that I tried before with another game built on Polygon which is a well-known blockchain, but in reality, people don't really use it, and the hype is about promoting Polygon, not the projects built on it, and this is why the project died even before started.

Understandable but how certain are you that Polygon was the problem? It's true that it has less users compared to Ethereum so there is still the need to promote the chain first over the projects built on it but have you done enough for the game? I mean maybe the concept was different than what you're trying to build now. try to consider this again.

Why do I choose to build it on blockchain in the first place?
The game challenge is time and time can be bought from the game, a pay-to-win concept that helps new users to keep up with the first comers, otherwise, it won't be fun to wait to get invaded every minute by users who started before you.

The good thing about these games is the time because in order to keep your town prospering all you need is a few minutes per day to collect resources and upgrade buildings or create new ones, so technically it's one transaction per day that handle all the updates for you. So you are playing by not wasting your time playing 

The fun part is when you start trading resources and shares in the marketplace, it's about predicting other users' productivity, promoting your own town, trading countries' bonds, and of course, getting your town up in the leaderboard.

The game works without the blockchain, but when the money is real, it makes it more fun because the steps you take are well calculated and the town gives you more status than holding a rare NFT or something similar in the crypto space.

The idea sounds good. I hope you get a good backing for this project.

[Stelisto]

[....]I'm not a programmer, but why not try Polygon, for example.

OP already tried Polygon as he mentioned in his previous comment.

The reason I choose to build it on Ethereum is that I tried before with another game built on Polygon which is a well-known blockchain, but in reality, people don't really use it, and the hype is about promoting Polygon, not the projects built on it, and this is why the project died even before started.

Understandable but how certain are you that Polygon was the problem? It's true that it has less users compared to Ethereum so there is still the need to promote the chain first over the projects built on it but have you done enough for the game? I mean maybe the concept was different than what you're trying to build now. try to consider this again.

Why do I choose to build it on blockchain in the first place?
The game challenge is time and time can be bought from the game, a pay-to-win concept that helps new users to keep up with the first comers, otherwise, it won't be fun to wait to get invaded every minute by users who started before you.

The good thing about these games is the time because in order to keep your town prospering all you need is a few minutes per day to collect resources and upgrade buildings or create new ones, so technically it's one transaction per day that handle all the updates for you. So you are playing by not wasting your time playing 

The fun part is when you start trading resources and shares in the marketplace, it's about predicting other users' productivity, promoting your own town, trading countries' bonds, and of course, getting your town up in the leaderboard.

The game works without the blockchain, but when the money is real, it makes it more fun because the steps you take are well calculated and the town gives you more status than holding a rare NFT or something similar in the crypto space.

The idea sounds good. I hope you get good backing for this project.

My experience with polygon was on a high level, the project was big, with a great studio, a demo, and everything, we worked directly with the team, but in the end, they just used us to make the polygon looks good for investors, I don't want to get to the details, because the project is still on hold, we may revive it later on ETH chain, but from experience, polygon is a graveyard for web3 projects.

Yesterday's dinner didn't go as expected, but 2 of 6 people agreed to back me up, is still a win at this stage, the next important step is the prototype on testnet, once it's done, I will create a proper announcement post for the game.

In case you want to get notified when the testnet is live, use this form (mailing list) to join the mailing list, we won't email you until the testnet is live.

Also, I will be posting progress updates here.

[merekamo]

The problem when you use Ethereum Network is the transaction fees because even though you have some nice game right there if the gas fees are always increasing you gonna lose more players and they will gonna leave your game just like what happened to the other games out there that failed to update their games to catch their player's suggestions. That's why until today, there was no blockchain game that can compete with some common games out there that are easy to play because most blockchain games don't have any idea to reduce the gas fees once they rise.

I agree with you concern about "high transaction fees on the Ethereum network". It's true that many blockchain games have faced challenges due to the increasing gas fees, which can deter players from engaging with the game. Example case, if game need some token to play it and users has token token to buy first, this is problem if users buy a littlebit minimum token to play this game, because gas fee ETH is high. I suggestion to research and consider using Arbitrum. For now, Arbitrum solution for Ethereum that aims to reduce transaction fees and improve the network's scalability. You may be able to offer your players a more cost-effective gaming experience while still benefiting from the security and decentralization of the Ethereum network.

[wheelz1200]

I'm working on an in-chain game on ethereum, but before I spend more time on it, I would like to get some feedback first, so the game is about creating a town in a country, mining resources, building an army, and invading other towns, creating town shares, collecting taxes, sell it on the marketplace vs ETH, and more.

as a game designer, I can build it myself and I have friends in case I need it backers, in exchange I get loyalty for me and my backers from the marketplace when users exchange resources.
The question I'm asking is, is it worth building?
Do you play a free game on ethereum by paying only transaction fees knowing that you can sell town shares when you reach a certain level?

Honestly I thought gaming and crypto were meant for each other.  The ability to do micro payments gives the ability for those fractional payments that are needed.  As far as your game no clue.  As a hobby I'd say keep going but unless you can make a really good game I doubt it gets long term traction.

[OcTradism]

I'm working on an in-chain game on ethereum

You are building either an on-chain game on Ethereum blockchain or an off-chain game. No in-chain game.

before I spend more time on it, I would like to get some feedback first, so the game is about creating a town in a country, mining resources, building an army, and invading other towns, creating town shares, collecting taxes, sell it on the marketplace vs ETH, and more.

as a game designer, I can build it myself and I have friends in case I need it backers, in exchange I get loyalty for me and my backers from the marketplace when users exchange resources.
The question I'm asking is, is it worth building?

It is not worth building. You must look at your tokenomics, inflation of your token when your game continues to be lively played by gamers. The more gamers play your game, the more inflation of your token will be. How will you control that inflation?

If you can not control inflation, your token will be dumped to hell. Your team will only get money from selling tokens, NFTs and it's the end of your project when token crashes with gamer selling pressure.

[libert19]

Do you play a free game on Ethereum by paying only transaction fees.

I don't, transaction fees are put-off for me on any chain, but Ethereum takes the cake.

Knowing that you can sell town shares when you reach a certain level?

Depends on price, and this often depends on popularity of game, or are you saying players can sell town shares for definite price determined by game design?

[Wexnident]

I don't think you need to avoid polygon due to reasons you said above, people will crowd over the polygon network if you're game is appealing as you say it actually is. It's especially advantageous considering how ETH has enormous fees, so people transitioning to polygon wouldn't feel awkward for your game, they'd probably welcome it even. Looking at it from another side though, high fees won't exactly stop the game from spreading if it's really that good. But ehhh, considering all things, a blockchain with smaller handling fees would be a lot better.

Also, I will be posting progress updates here.

I suggest creating a whole new post altogether. It'd kinda get buried with all the posts here. Maybe even self mod and reserve the first few sections so you can have them all for your updates.

[Stelisto]

I'm working on an in-chain game on ethereum

You are building either an on-chain game on Ethereum blockchain or an off-chain game. No in-chain game.

before I spend more time on it, I would like to get some feedback first, so the game is about creating a town in a country, mining resources, building an army, and invading other towns, creating town shares, collecting taxes, sell it on the marketplace vs ETH, and more.

as a game designer, I can build it myself and I have friends in case I need it backers, in exchange I get loyalty for me and my backers from the marketplace when users exchange resources.
The question I'm asking is, is it worth building?

It is not worth building. You must look at your tokenomics, inflation of your token when your game continues to be lively played by gamers. The more gamers play your game, the more inflation of your token will be. How will you control that inflation?

If you can not control inflation, your token will be dumped to hell. Your team will only get money from selling tokens, NFTs and it's the end of your project when token crashes with gamer selling pressure.

on-chain game  , the game has no token or NFTs, we sell nothing, the access to the game is free, and we make money only when players start making money by selling resources to other players, we collect a marketplace fees + part of what players spend to buy extra energy, which is optional for players who want to level up fast, the other part of the energy sales, will be held for future challenges and prizes.